St. Paul's Episcopal Church   Poughkeepsie, NY 12601


MESSENGER
"Making friends while serving God"

The week of June 4-10, 2018  
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!



CHURCH PICNIC SET FOR JUNE 17
 
The annual St,. Paul's parish picnic has been set for June 17 at the Germania campground  off Old DeGarmo Road. The informal Rite II service  will be held at 10 am. Shorts and flipflops are liturgically acceptable.  There is no Rite I service that day.
 
The picnic begins following the Holy Eucharist. Signups for different foods will be in the narthex on Sunday. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the provision of picnic foods and drinks. Balls and games for the younger members are also welcome.
 
All members of the congregation and anyone else interested are strongly invited to attend. See Bobbie Gordon gfor directions or more information.





"Who are my mother and my brothers?"  
Sunday's Gospel contains one of the most startling developments in the entire Bible. Jesus is being accused
bible.jpg
This week's readings
by his townspeople of being an agent of the devil. His family becomes concerned and attempts to extricate him from the followers who have gathered around him. When Jesus hears of this he asks "Who are my mother and my brothers?"

This seeming rejection of his natural family is shocking to us. It is made all the more so when he asserts, " Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of  God is my brother and sister and mother."

We need to look more closely at what he says, however. Jesus is not rejecting his natural family; he is asserting that his natural family extends beyond that family and includes those who do the will of God. He does so in a manner that actually invites into the family those who choose to believe and follow him. And he puts on notice those who seek to discredit him and his healing miracles.

  1 Samuel 8:4-20, 11:14-15; Psalm 138; 
2  Corinthians 4:13-5:1, Mark 3:20-35
 



'In Service to God & You'
This week's helpers
  

SUNDAY 8AM

Server:            Maria Bell

 

Lectors:           Rose Marie Proctor

                        Cora Keith

 

Litanist:           Pete Bedrossian

 

SUNDAY 10AM

Organist:         Maris Kristapsons

 

Acolytes:         Shawn Prater-Lee

   Jordan Rosborough

   Ben Rosborough

 

Lectors:           Jim Schneider

                        Rena Mazzuto

 

Litanist:           Mark Debald

 

Usher:             Dewy Clarke

                        Mark Debald

 

Altar Guild:      Joanna & Rose Marie

                                         


P A R I S H  N E W S

Joyful organ re-dedication celebration  
Saturday's organ re-dedication was a heart-warming delight for one and all. Six organists played selections of their choosing. One played jazz tunes accompanied by St. Paul's percussionist, Charlie Benjamin and handbell players from St. John's Lutheran Church accompanied another. The Parish Hall reception capped a most successful day.
 
 
 
 
                                       GREAT NEWS!
             25 WEEK CLUB TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW!
Be sure to get yours ASAP in order to get in all of the drawings. Here's a reminder of how it works. Tickets are $25.00 each. Drawings will be held every Sunday from July 1 - December 9.   Prizes for those drawings are $10 and $20.   The final drawing will be December 15 at a party that will include dinner and perhaps musical entertainment. Prizes awarded that day will be $10, $20 plus the big prizes of $500, $250, $150, $100 & $50. You can win multiple times since your ticket is always returned to the pile so that it's there for the final drawing.  All parishioners are asked to buy or sell at least 2 tickets. Tickets to sell are available from Bobbie Gordon. Tickets for purchase are available from Vestry members and Debbie Pitcher, Deb Williams, Rose Marie Proctor, Charlie Benjamin, Cynthia Benjamin, Janet Quade and Bobbie Gordon.
 
STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE NEWS: Possible fund raisers - Restaurant dinner in July; Casino Bus trip in August.   Do either of these sound interesting to you?  Let someone on the Stewardship Committee hear from you.  It isn't a Fund Raising event if people don't participate!
STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Daphne Barrett, Charlie & Cynthia Benjamin, Aleen Clarke, Adrian Goldson, Bobbie Gordon, Debbie Pitcher, Rose Marie Proctor, Janet Quade, Deb Williams, Norma Williams
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WHY DO WE USE INCENSE?
 
We use incense at St. Paul's as part of our worship. It is for our parish a familiar part of our services, but not something common across all Christian denominations. For many who come here, it is an unknown ritual, for others it is familiar, but not well understood.
 
Our use of incense links us to ancient traditions that go back to the Old Testament. In the Hebrew tradition as discussed in Exodus, it can be seen as a symbolic cleansing and sanctification of the Tabernacle. So the practice pre-dates our Christian worship, but as with many things we do, our current ritual is intertwined with Jewish tradition. The Christian tradition of using incense goes further than this and is first addressed when Frankincense is one of the gifts of the three Magi. Such a gift signifies Jesus' position as priest and prophet. However as Christianity developed the use of incense took on another meaning through interpretation of some of the writings in the Book of Revelation. Incense is linked with our prayers and the rising smoke is carrying our prayers to God. This also brings us closer to God.
 
So for us at St. Paul's the use of incense is a trinity: It connects to our Judeo-Christian heritage, prepares us to cleanse and purify our sanctuary (and ourselves) for the Eucharist and helps carry our prayers to God.
 
       --Pete Bedrossian, Formation Chair


COMMUNITY  NEWS
Note:
Please visit the DCIC website (www.dutchesscountyinterfaith.org) and our Facebook page for updates on these events and more.
 
 
 
 
Wed.
June 6th


Story Circle & Potluck Dinner


 

 

   6pm

The Dining Hall at Maripolis Luminosa
(200 Cardinaol Rd, Hyde Park, NY)

For more info call Antonio (845) 229-0230 x127
OR
 


 
                                            JUNE
 
2     Donna Taylor                                             17    Jordan William Rosborough
7     Molly Jones                                                        Benjamin Charles Rosborough
       Mary Ann Bagatta                                              Damien Cole
8     Joy Jones                                                   21    Shirley Mary Richardson
       Serena Mazzuto                                                 William Hyson IV
10   Hyacinth Curtis                                           22    Michael Babb II
11   Philip Mahlke                                              23   Sophia Mincey
12   Garrett Martin Bell                                      25   Donna Hosier
       Ira Wethington                                            30   Amanda Rose Bell
13   Kimberli William                                                 Shelly Anderson Walker
15   Bobbie Gordon                                                  Luke Goodwin
Organ re-dedication remarks
                    
    Thanks be to God and Bea and Bob
 
REMARKS: June 2, 2018
 
The Episcopal Church's Book of Occasional Services contains the following for the Dedication of an organ or other musical instrument:
 
Antiphon
 
They sing to the tambourine and the lyre, and rejoice to the sound of the pipes.
Verse: Praise him with the sound of the trumpet:
Response: Praise him with lyre and harp.
Let us pray.
 
O Lord, before whose throne trumpets sound, and saints and angels sing the songs of Moses and the Lamb: Accept this organ for the worship of your temple, that with the voice of music we may proclaim your praise and tell it abroad; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The people of St. Paul's are delighted to share with you the joyous re-dedication of our parish organ. The instrument has been an important fixture here for more than a century. We are pleased and proud to celebrate today its refurbishing.
 
How we got here is a fairly wonderful story in our view. It has given us the opportunity to honor a former St. Paul's musical director and organist here and to celebrate the restoration not only of an organ but of a relationship that was, for a while, quite strained.
 
Bob Dorum was the Musical Director and organist here for over a decade. He had been succeeded by Maris Kristapsons before Molly and I came to Poughkeepsie. Bob had very high standards and hopes for our choir which exceeded the interest and capacity of the singers. He wanted precise harmonies and singing in Latin and ultimately left when he realized those aspirations would go unfulfilled.
 
In the intervening years he started attending our midweek healing service and we were able to form a nice church friendship which did not evoke memories of his frustrations at St. Paul's.
Bob was the ultimate high churchman. I thought of him recently when I saw a video which showed the amount of incense used on Pentecost at St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church in New York City. St. Mary the Virgin, known in the church as Smoky Mary's, really lays it on. The far side of the church was not visible through the cloud of smoke. Bob would have loved it. That's probably one reason why he wanted his ashes to be interred at that church. Molly and Jim Schneider and I made the trip to Smoky Mary's for the interment of his ashes not long after his death.
 
Although not a young man, not even middle aged any longer, Bob's death came as a surprise, partly because we had celebrated his mom's 100th birthday that year. After Bob died she lived five days before dying herself. It was sad, of course, but a tidy family affair, as you can imagine.
Not much later I got a phone call from a credit union telling me they had a CD of Bob's that matured and it was in the name of St. Paul's. I went to the credit union and received a check for $104,000 as I recall. You could have knocked me over with a feather.
 
When Jim Schneider found out about the CD he told me he thought the beneficiary of Bob's will was St. Paul's. He investigated, only to learn that the will lacked a second witness and was invalid. After a while Jim came to me and told me that if the will was invalid it would have accrued to his mother who survived him, if only by five days. Jim started digging further and found that Bea's will was valid and she, also, named St. Paul's as beneficiary.
 
In the course of this church's long history we have had experiences which we attribute to God's goodness and our understanding that God wants this church to survive and thrive. The 2002 fire was a clarion call to the leadership, bringing new energy and vision to live. The roof project, with a 50% state grant, was another. The funds which Bob and Bea's estates brought the church have made possible improvements to our kitchen and our parish hall which allow us to rent it out and earn revenue which contributes significantly to our ability to pay our bills and keep the doors of the church open.
 
When we discussed how best to honor Bea and Bob's generosity it was quickly clear that organ restoration, long a dream, was feasible. We have enjoyed the restored instrument today and for a few months, now. We cannot hear its brighter and stronger tones, not to mention its deeper more powerful voice without imagining the pleasure it would have given Bob to know he and his mom helped make it happen and are being honored in the process. Bea would have been pleased but likely couldn't have enojyed it, as she was stone deaf. Sharp as a tack, but stone deaf.
 
Please stand.
 
Let us pray.
 
Gracious and loving God,
 
You brought to this fine old church Bob Dorum, to practice his musical arts and to find joy in its midst. We thank you for giving to us Bob and, by extension, his mother Bea, whose generosity we celebrate and acknowledge this day.
 
May your saints in heaven, including Bea and Bob, hear the sweet sounds of this refurbished instrument and know that the people of St. Paul's delight in it, in their gift, and in giving glory to you, the God and Father of all.
 
We ask your blessing on the instrument and all who play it. May the spirit of love which your son Jesus taught till his earthly end be heard in this organ's sound and in all accompanying voices.            Amen
 
Please permit me to acknowledge the organists and other musicians at today's recital, especially Maris Kristapsons, our Music Director, who has supervised the refurbishing of the organ and led the choir with keyboard or piano when the organ was not available during repairs. Thanks, too, to Steven Rosenberry, the refurbishing contractor, whose work has brought us such delight.
 
And thanks to all of you for attending this recital and ceremony. Drop by again (and again) to enjoy its sound! Peace!
 
Remarks at the de-dedication of the organ at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Poughkeepsie NY, on June 2, 2018  by The Rev. Tyler Jones, Rector

Please " Like" our page to stay up to date with all services and events.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church-Poughkeepsie
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THIS WEEK'S HYMNS

1982                  47      On this day, the first of days
 
1982                 391     Before the Lord's eternal throne
 
1982                 377     O Savior, precious Savior
 
1982                 569     God the omnipotent! King who ordainest
 
 
 
HYMN INFORMATION: The text of the hymn we know as On This Day, the First of Days was first published in a French breviary in 1745 as a Latin hymn titled Die parente temporum, meant to be used between Pentecost and Advent. In 1861, Anglican hymn writer Sir Henry Williams Baker translated it with the text we know now and set it to the hymn tune Gott Sei Dank, which was first published by German theologian Johann Freylinghausen in 1704. Different aspects of the text make it a very versatile hymn, appropriate for many occasions, referencing Creation, Christ's Resurrection, Pentecost, and the Holy Trinity.




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THIS WEEK'S CALENDAR
June 4-10, 2018

MON 4                  7:30am "Good Morning" AA Meeting;  
                             5pm Stewardship;   
                      6pm EVENING PRAYER;              
                             6:30pm NA Meeting "Journey to Recovery";                                             
                                                                                                                                                
TUE 5                 10am-2pm Office, Food Pantry, Small Blessings Thrift Shop;                        
                                                                                                                                               
WED 6                  7:30am "Good Morning" AA Meeting;  
                            10am-2pm Office, Food Pantry, Small Blessings Thrift Shop;
        12:15pm Healing Service & Eucharist
                                                                                                                                  
THUR 7               10am-2pm Office, Food Pantry, Thrift Shop;
                            6pm EVENING PRAYER, Evangelism/Outreach;
                               
FRI 8                    7:30am "Good Morning" AA meeting;
                       
SAT 9                   3pm NA Meeting "Journey to Recovery" 
                            5pm S.H. Private Party;  
                                                                                                                                                                             
SUN 10               8am Rite I;
                            8:45am Lessons' Discussion;
                            9:30am Choir practice;  
              10am Rite II
              10am Sunday School;
              11:15am Coffee Hour;  
              11:30am Youth
              11:45am Managing Retirement Spending Workshop         

YOUR NEWS BELONGS IN ST. PAUL'S  MESSENGER

Help us get the word out by submitting news of parish activities. Send submittals to stpaulpk@verizon.net or call 845 452 8440

Give us a call today!